Spoiler Alert! Macaque Attack is the third book in the Macaque trilogy so there is a bloomin’ good chance if you haven’t read books one and two, this review may contain the odd spoiler here and there. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya! Ack-Ack’s back – and this time he’s brought an army! He’s saved the world twice. Now, in the thrilling conclusion to the award-winning Macaque Trilogy, the dangerous but charismatic Ack-Ack Macaque finds himself leading a dimension-hopping troupe of angry monkeys, facing an invading horde of implacable killer androids, and confronting the one challenge for which he was never prepared: impending fatherhood! Meanwhile, former journalist Victoria Valois finds herself facing old enemies as she fights to save the electronic ghost of her dead husband, and Merovech, King of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and France, receives a troubling message from the dead sands of Mars… For the last couple of years January has been a bit of a genre highlight here at The Eloquent Page. Since January 2013, Ack-Ack Macaque has been an annual fixture on my reading list. This year, when the final part of the Macaque trilogy arrived, I’ll admit I felt more than a…

Decades after an alien virus changed the course of history, the surviving population of Manhattan still struggles to understand the new world left in its wake. Natural humans share the rough city with those given extraordinary—and sometimes terrifying—traits. While most manage to coexist in an uneasy peace, not everyone is willing to adapt. Down in the seedy underbelly of Jokertown, residents are going missing. The authorities are unwilling to investigate, except for a fresh lieutenant looking to prove himself and a collection of unlikely jokers forced to take matters into their own hands—or tentacles. The deeper into the kidnapping case these misfits and miscreants get, the higher the stakes are raised. There is little denying that Game of Thrones has made George R R Martin a household name. The books and the television show are massively, insanely popular and rightly so.  I’ll admit that though I thoroughly enjoy my visits to Westeros, and all of its political machinations, I have always had more of a soft spot for Martin’s other magnum opus, the Wild Cards books. Since the late nineteen eighties, this ongoing series of mosaic novels, that Martin edits with Melinda M Snodgrass, has cleverly reinvented the superhero genre…

In a break from tradition what follows is not a standard review but rather an open letter to Professor Elemental on the occasion of the publication of his Letters Between Gentlemen. But first a little background… Professor Elemental: Misunderstood and benevolent genius, evil killer; or slightly deluded idiot? Private investigator Algernon Spoon really isn’t sure, but as the bodies mount up, it looks like someone is bent on slaughter: But who? And Why? And is there going to be Battenburg? Dear Professor Please excuse this intrusion but I felt compelled to voice my congratulations on the recent publication of your wonderful book Letters Between Gentlemen. I have long since been an enthusiastic fan of your fighting trousers and have endeavoured to spread the word of your musical stylings whenever possible. I am sure you have no difficulty imagining my unrestrained glee when I discovered you had written a book. The prospect of gaining invaluable insight into your scientific working methods and unique mind were a dream come true. Any man who is able to successfully bridge the gap between steampunk rapper, cutting edge inventor and author I consider to be well worthy of my time. Reading through the various correspondences…

It’s 1910 and the British rule the subcontinent with an iron fist – and with strange technology fuelled by a power source known as Annapurnite – discovered in the foothills of Mount Annapurna. But they rule but at the constant cost of their enemies, mainly the Russians and the Chinese, attempting to learn the secret of this technology… This political confrontation is known as The Greater Game. Into this conflict is pitched eighteen year old Janisha Chaterjee who discovers a strange device which leads her into the foothills of the Himalayas. When Russians spies and the evil priest Durja Das find out about the device, the chase is on to apprehend Janisha before she can reach the Himalayas. There she will learn the secret behind Annapurnite, and what she learns will change the destiny of the world for ever… Jani and the Greater Game is the first book in a rip-roaring, spice-laden, steampunk action adventure series set in India and featuring a heroine who subverts all the norms. For me, there has always been something fantastically diverting about a good steampunk tale. I’m a bit of a daydreamer, and I’ve always found that this particular sub-genre is the most effective…

Irregularity is a collaboration between the National Maritime Museum and award-winning publisher Jurassic London: a collection of fourteen original stories from some of the most exciting voices in contemporary fiction. Using the Longitude Act as the jumping off point, Irregularity is inspired by the great thinkers of the Age of Reason – those courageous men and women who set out to map, chart, name and classify the world around them. The great minds who brought order and discipline to the universe. Except where they didn’t. Irregularity contains new stories from Nick Harkaway, Claire North, Adam Roberts, E. J. Swift, Tiffani Angus, Rose Biggin, Kim Curran, Richard de Nooy, Archie Black, Simon Guerrier, Roger Luckhurst, Henrietta Rose-Innes, James Smythe, M. Suddain and Adam Roberts. The anthology includes an afterword from Sophie Waring and Richard Dunn, Head of Science and Technology and Royal Museums Greenwich. The stories are illustrated by Gary Northfield, based on imagery from the archives of the National Maritime Museum. The cover shows “Resolution”, a work by Howard Hardiman. It’s been a while since I’ve read an anthology and when Irregularity dropped through my letterbox it appeared that the book gods were indeed smiling on me. Fourteen new works…

It is ten years since the attack that reduced Pittsburgh to ashes. Today all that remains is the Archive: an interactive digital record of the city and its people. John Dominic Blaxton is a survivor, one of the ‘lucky ones’ who escaped the blast. Crippled by the loss of his wife and unborn daughter, he spends his days immersed in the Archive with the ghosts of yesterday. It is there he finds the digital record of a body: a woman, lying face down, half buried in mud. Who is she … and why is someone hacking into the system and deleting the record of her seemingly unremarkable life? This question will drag Dominic from the darkest corners of the past into a deadly and very present nightmare. When thousands die in a tragedy does the death of one more victim mean anything? That’s the jumping off point for Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Thomas Sweterlitsch. In near future America a bomb levels Pittsburgh. The entire US is consumed by grief at the scale of the atrocity. Using the latest technology to create a virtual representation of the city, an electronic archive is created to recapture all events in the city leading…

A bomb goes off in down town San Francisco. Twelve people are dead. But this is no ordinary target. This target exists on the fault line where sex and money meet. Daniel Madsen is one of a new breed of federal agents armed with a badge, a gun and the Bureau’s latest piece of technology. He’s a fast operator and his instructions are simple: find the bomber – and before he strikes again. In order to understand what is at stake, Madsen must plunge into a sleazy, unsettling world where reality and fantasy are indistinguishable, exploitation is business as usual, and the dead hand of corruption reaches all the way to the top. There’s too much money involved for this investigation to stay private. Skinjobs are the latest thing in adult entertainment, synthetic creations that flawlessly mimic humanity. They are starting to replace their organic forebears in the world’s oldest profession. When a “dollhouse” is destroyed in an act of terrorism, a federal agent and a CCTV operator are drawn into a shadowy conspiracy. Who is it that is trying to destroy the newest sector of America’s tech economy? Agent Daniel Madsen lives his job. He is at the forefront…

Kenstibec was genetically engineered to build a new world, but the apocalypse forced a career change. These days he drives a taxi instead. A fast-paced, droll and disturbing novel, BARRICADE is a savage road trip across the dystopian landscape of post-apocalypse Britain; narrated by the cold-blooded yet magnetic antihero, Kenstibec. Kenstibec is a member of the ‘Ficial’ race, a breed of merciless super-humans. Their war on humanity has left Britain a wasteland, where Ficials hide in barricaded cities, besieged by tribes of human survivors. Originally optimised for construction, Kenstibec earns his keep as a taxi driver, running any Ficial who will pay from one surrounded city to another. The trips are always eventful, but this will be his toughest yet. His fare is a narcissistic journalist who’s touchy about her luggage. His human guide is constantly plotting to kill him. And that’s just the start of his troubles. On his journey he encounters ten-foot killer rats, a mutant king with a TV fixation, a drug-crazed army, and even the creator of the Ficial race. He also finds time to uncover a terrible plot to destroy his species for good – and humanity too. Wow, has it really been almost an…

Supposedly, the war between Calchis and Orion ended decades ago. But upon reporting to an isolated Orion army base for basic training, Private Stockton Finn learns the war still rages, only the weapons have changed–most disturbingly of all, Finn has been selected to become one of those weapons. Across the border, young Calchan farm boy Aaron Waverly learns all too well just how determined his country is to win the war when he is abducted from his family’s property by a sinister government operative known only as Agent. Finding himself trapped in dreary new surroundings, learning deadly skills he’s never before imagined, Aaron struggles to reconcile his ephemeral faith with his harsh new reality. As the two nations hurtle toward a resurgence of open hostilities, Finn and Aaron, along with their new friends and mentors, must rush to prepare themselves for the inevitable clash. All the while, a new archaeological find in the frozen tundra far to the north hints that the brewing conflict may only be the first of their worries… I liked the premise in Dan Levinson’s debut from the get-go. The idea that hostility exists between two huge countries based on super-human mental abilities really appeals. The…

In 2014 humanity didn’t stand a chance. A series of fatal climatic disasters struck, entirely drowning the planet. Now, just one hundred and twenty-five souls remain, surviving on a flotilla of damaged ships. But their survival isn’t guaranteed. Facing severe threats to their numbers by a fatal bacterium and increasingly warring factions, they discover a serial killer within their midst. When the murderer targets Eva Morgan’s friend, her investigations draw her into a deadly mystery and a race against time before the killer’s actions destroy the fragile existence on the flotilla. The further she digs, the more secrets she uncovers, and the truth becomes a pawn in a game for ultimate survival.   Regular readers of The Eloquent Page will know that I can’t ever let an opportunity to revel in good apocalyptic fiction pass me by. I just love this devilish little sub-genre. I wish I could tell you exactly why, but in all honesty I’m not sure I can. All I know is that apocalyptic fiction really resonates with me, just can’t get enough of it. The latest work I’ve cast my beady eye over is SALT by Anachron Press supremo, Colin F Barnes. So let’s sit back,…

Jacob Carnehan has settled down. He’s living a comfortable, quiet life, obeying the law and minding his own business while raising his son Carter … on those occasions when he isn’t having to bail him out of one scrape or another. His days of adventure are – thankfully – long behind him. Carter Carnehan is going out of his mind with boredom. He’s bored by his humdrum life, frustrated that his father won’t live a little, and longs for the bright lights and excitement of anywhere-but-here. He’s longing for an opportunity to escape, and test himself against whatever the world has to offer. Carter is going to get his opportunity. He’s caught up in a village fight, kidnapped by slavers and, before he knows it, is swept to another land. A lowly slave, surrounded by technology he doesn’t understand, his wish has come true: it’s him vs. the world. He can try to escape, he can try to lead his fellow slaves, or he can accept the inevitable and try to make the most of the short, brutal existence remaining to him…. unless Jacob gets to him first and, no matter the odds, he intends to. No one kidnaps his…

Fifty years ago, the world was almost destroyed by a chemical war. Now the world is divided: the mutants and the pure, the broken and the privileged, the damaged and the perfect. Thirteen years ago, a covert government experimental facility was shut down and its residents killed. The secrets it held died with them. But five extraordinary kids survived. Today four teenagers are about to discover that their mutant blood brings with it special powers. Rush and three brothers and sisters he can’t remember. Two rival factions are chasing them. One by one, they face the enemy. Together, they might just stay alive . . . At first glance, the inhabitants of City Four all appear perfect. Science has helped to make them that way. All disease, sickness and the genetic differences that exist in humans have been removed. Parents can choose exactly what their children will look like, everything down to the colour of their eyes and their hair. Nothing is left to chance. The only fly in the ointment of this, otherwise perfect, existence is the groups of individuals who live outside the city walls. The other survivors of the last war, the mutants (mutes) exist in the slums…

Earth has been invaded and the insect-like Crays have established secret hives across the world. The only thing standing between Earth and domination by these creatures are the Grunts, men whose business is soldiering. But this time they must learn how to defeat a very different kind of enemy from any human foe. Last year I read Seal Team 666: Age of Blood by Weston Ochse and enjoyed the non-stop action and supernatural adventure. When I heard that the same author was going to take on the end of the world, and would be adding a liberal dose of aliens to boot, I couldn’t help but be intrigued. The premise is pretty straight forward. An imminent alien invasion has been discovered and a clandestine organisation, known as Task Force OMBRA, are planning our planet’s response. The only problem? Who should be part of this group? What are the best qualities for a soldier facing off against an entirely new kind of threat? Made up from men and women from all over the globe each team member has been individually selected due to the nature of their pre-invasion experiences. They are a fascinating group. Primarily, we follow a new recruit called Mason but I don’t…